Dedication: To Sara-chan, who listens to my nightmares and is constant to spur me on to embrace my dreams. And for Misty, ruler of Antarctica and Mistress of all penguins.
Notes: Thanks to all who reviewed. I've almost finished writing the story, so hopefully the chapters will be updated weekly for the next… seven or eight weeks.
"And I'm haunted/
By the lives that I have loved/
And actions I have hated/
I'm haunted/
By the promises I've made/
And others I have broken/
I'm haunted/
By the lives that wove the web/
Inside my haunted head"/
-"Haunted" (Poe)
Haunted"You look terrible, Jou-chan." Sanosuke remarked tactlessly the next morning, shoveling down food that Kenshin had managed to make.
She gave him a sharp look in reply. "Don't you have a respectable job yet?"
Sano gave her a glare between gulps, and that was the end of the conversation.
Kenshin sat, in utter silence, watching them. He'd heard her sobs in the darkness, and he hated himself for doing this to them. He should just pull himself together, like every other person. But he wasn't like every other person. He stared at his hands; they were quickly soaking in blood. Feeling the bile rising in his stomach, he thrust them under the table, prompting a few odd looks.
He rose quickly, hitting the wood and flipping Sano's breakfast into the air. He took no notice of the little incident and walked outside.
"Hey, Kenshin!" Sano was immediately after him. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing." The reply hissed back at him and Kenshin himself seemed surprised by the malice in his tone. He hurried away, putting as much distance as possible between them. The puzzled man just looked after Kenshin's retreating back.
"Hmm…"
He scrubbed, as hard as he could. Why wouldn't they come clean? Still soaked in blood. His hands were still soaked. He stared into the murky water of more wash, watching the blood his mind conjured spread like smoky fingers through the water. His raw hands burned, but he paid them little mind again. It was a small retribution to the pain his victims had felt.
A cold breeze cut through the Rurouni.
Something was happening. He looked frantically around as his world darkened. The wash was gone. Everything was black. It was he. Kenshin's greatest foe- himself. The Battousai stared with eyes as cold as winter and spoke with a tongue sharper than the sword at his hip, which was swinging dangerously.
::Are you afraid?::
||No.||
::Why not? Even you know your grip on me weakens……… Give up Rurouni, it will be easier on all of us.::
||Enough.||
The golden-eyed manslayer drew his sword, and the reverse blade was quick to the block. It was a single blow, meant for no more than intimidation. And the Battousai was gone.
Everything swam back into view, the tub, the ground, and the trees. He stared absently at the spot in which his counterpart had stood only a moment before. He stopped for a split second, then finished the wash, suddenly unsure of how long he had been there.
Between the Hitokiri resurfacing, now being avoided by his best friend and sending Kaoru into emotional turmoil thinking he was dying every time he looked at her, Kenshin couldn't relax. Kaoru suggested that he take a day off, go shopping for something, or, as much as it pained her to say, visit Megumi. She was busy enough with running the dojo, he admonished himself, and she didn't need to worry about him on top of all of it.
He looked at her for a moment. She spoke volumes, though her mouth didn't once move. She was terrified he wouldn't come back.
"Sessha will be home soon, de gonzaru." He said with a smile before walking out the gate toward town. He had to get away………
The streets were so quiet. Or perhaps they were bustling with life. He wouldn't know. To Kenshin, all was a silent world now. He wondered for a fleeting moment of his sanity, but the thought was shaken. This too would pass, or so he hoped, and everything would be back to normal. Something just had to have been- triggering it……… that was all.
A buzzing had begun in the back of his mind, mildly irritating, but it grew. Its volume increased to a roar like a waterfall. His hands clung to his ears, blocking out the sound. And then there was screaming. So much screaming.
He looked around, seeing the world as though he was underwater, wondering why no one else reacted. He couldn't see the crowd gathering around him. He could only just feel the ground as it made contact with his head. And all was dark.
………
She sat on the porch of the dojo, leaning against a beam. One eye opened blearily to gaze at another setting sun. She saw the small pot, still filled with water she should have boiled hours ago for dinner. Surly Kenshin should have been back by now……… But she couldn't help feeling something was wrong.
"Kaoru!"
Ripped back to reality quickly, Kaoru watched as Yahiko, completely breathless stood in front of her, trying to get something out between heaves.
"Something's," Gasp ", Wrong with Kenshin." Heave ", something bad happened."
The young dojo master was on her feet, searching the boy's eyes for a clue more than that, but he didn't seem to know any more than he spoke. Sano's spiky head popped out the door. He may have been slightly afraid of Kenshin for the time being, but if his friend was in danger……… Sano stepped out of the house completely, following Kaoru and Yahiko, all at a dead run, back to the clinic.
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Thanks:
Tiger: Thanks… I'm really glad you like. It only gets weirder, though, trust me… ^^
Silverfox190: Updating weekly now… hope to hear from you again!
